Monday, October 22, 2012

SAVING OUR KIDS AND RIVERS FROM
DRUGS: OPERATION MEDICINE CABINET HOPES TO BE THE FIRST IN THE STATE OF NORTH
CAROLINA TO COLLECT ONE MILLION PILLS

SAVING OUR KIDS AND RIVERS FROM
DRUGS: OPERATION MEDICINE CABINET HOPES TO BE THE FIRST IN THE STATE OF NORTH
CAROLINA TO COLLECT ONE MILLION PILLS

Watauga County, NC- Do you have
outdated or unused prescription drugs, over the counter medications, syringes
or other medical supplies? Come drop them off at the sponsored take-back
centers on Saturday October 27, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Take-back locations will be available at
the Foscoe Fire Department, Beaverdam Fire Department and the three Food Lion
stores in Watauga County: the Highway 321 store in Boone, the Highway 421 Deep
Gap store, and the Blowing Rock store. It is an amnesty day, so no questions
will be asked.

Three years ago, on Oct. 3, 2009, a
broad coalition of community partners came together to create the first ever
prescription drug take-back day in the High Country. Since that first
event two years ago, a total of six “Operation Medicine Cabinet” events have
been held every May and October as part of the Watauga County household
hazardous waste day. Here are the
number of pills collected since the event began:

Date

Pills
collected

October 2009

40,000

May 2010

188,000

October 2010

350,000

May 2011

87,285

October 2011

88,000

May 2012

153,778

Total

907,063

Thanks to broad support by community members across the region,
the High Country has collected a total of 907,063 pills since 2009. That makes our group the best in the state. Our community
outperformed Raleigh, Charlotte and Asheville even though they are much larger
communities.

In
2010, our local Operation Medicine Cabinet was recognized as a model program
and adopted by other community groups across North Carolina. In 2011, more than
forty drug take back events were held across the state. This year, the High
Country group wants to continue leading the state by being the first group to collect more than million pills. We need to collect 93, 000 pill on
Saturday to reach our goal.

The disposal of prescription drugs
has long been a dilemma, and many medicine cabinets
contain unused or outdated medications. Among teenagers, the fastest growing illegal
drug use is the abuse of prescription drugs. The most common method of
obtaining prescription drugs is by raiding the medicine cabinet of a friend or
family, then consuming the pills or selling them.

“From a law enforcement perspective,
one of our most important jobs is to work diligently and proactively to prevent
drug abuse,” said Watauga County Sheriff Len D. Hagaman. “By hosting an amnesty
day that allows the public to turn in any kind of unused or unwanted
medications, hopefully, we will keep those drugs off the street and out of the
hands of children.”

Another problem with outdated or
unused prescription drugs is that people dispose of them improperly by flushing
them down the toilet. If
their home is connected to a local waste water treatment facility, then the
drugs wind up in either the Watauga River or New River where they can negatively
affect aquatic organisms. If the homes have septic tanks, the
drugs leach into the soils and contaminate groundwater that can be taken up by
well pumps.

“A recent investigation by the
Associated Press found a whole host of pharmaceuticals-including antibiotics,
pain medication, anti-depressants, sex hormones, heart and blood pressure
medicine-in the drinking water of
more than 40 million Americans,”[1]
said Donna Lisenby, Watauga Riverkeeper.

“It has been very rewarding to see
how enthusiastically people have united to support Operation Medicine Cabinet,”
said Dick and Joan Hearn of the Watauga River Partners. “We have over 30
community partners, including, Helen M. Clabough Charitable Foundation, MountainKeepers,
the towns and police departments of Beech Mountain, Boone, Blowing Rock and
Seven Devils, the Watauga County Sheriff's Office, the State Bureau of
Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Safe Kids North Carolina, Boone Drug, Watauga County Recycling/Solid Waste Department,
Watauga Riverkeeper/Western North Carolina Alliance, Food Lion, Appalachian
Voices, Precision Printing, Foscoe and Beaverdam Fire Departments, the Smoky
Mountain Center and Appalachian State University just to name a few,” they
continued.

One of the strongest community
partners that has supported Operation Medicine Cabinet since it began in 2009
has been Boone Drug. They have staffed every event with pharmacy personnel to
assist law enforcement officers to properly identify, count and catalog the
pills collected in accordance with the Drug Enforcement Agency permit
requirements. Carrie Phillips, Marketing Coordinator for the locally owned and
operated business said, “Boone Drug is dedicated to making sure prescription
drugs are handled safely and disposed of properly. We are proud to volunteer our time and support this
community project. We hope everybody will come see us at the collection events
on October 27, 2012 and join us in the community wide effort to be the first county
in North Carolina collect more than one million pills and save our rivers and
kids from drugs.”

To find out more about the event please
visit us online at www.DrugTakeBackDay.com.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Margie Mansure, a registered dietitian and Watauga's Family & Consumer Science Agent, gave a cooking demonstration to over 20 members of the Appalachian State University Women's club. Using ingredients purchased over the weekend at the Watauga County Farmers Market, Margie demonstrated preparation of tasty local dishes using kale, squash, and pasta from local producers. She also had several varieties of locally grown apples on hand for sampling. Margie is a leader in the county's local food movement as an active board member with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and the High Country Slow Food movement. She recently purchased new cooking equipment for demonstrations with funds provided through a Specialty Crop Block Grant from the NC Department of Agriculture.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Students,
nonprofits and government agencies work together to bring outdoor classroom to local
school

Bethel Elementary School, located in western Watauga County,
is now home to new rain garden, a project made possible through partnership
with several local agencies. The 850-square-foot rain garden, situated in front
of the school, not only collects rainwater runoff from the school’s rooftop,
but also will serve as an outdoor classroom with a variety of learning
opportunities for students. Native plants, water quality, and wildlife habitat
are among the topics that can be taught through the functioning rain garden.

Students from the Bethel
Elementary Science Club were involved with the rain garden from start to
finish; students in last year’s group learned about rain gardens and helped size
and plan for the garden in front of their school. Their work paid off
this fall as the rain garden was installed a few weeks ago. Sixth through
8th graders got to help plant and learn about the functions that rain gardens
provide.

The rain
garden was funded by a grant from NC Department of Environment and Natural
Resources recently received by the Watauga River Partners to enhance Beaverdam
Creek and all of its tributaries. Through the Beaverdam Creek Restoration
Project, landowners in the Bethel area are eligible to receive funding to
prevent land loss due to erosion, improve drinking water and fish habitats, and
implement best management practices on their properties.

Bethel Science Club is part
of the Climate
Action Network through Direct Observations and Outreach (CAN-DOO), a
NASA-funded program with the mission of increasing climate awareness and
promoting science literacy through climate science. Outreach efforts target
learners of all ages including K-12 public and home-schooled students in North
Carolina. “Science Clubs take place bi-weekly at two Watauga County elementary
schools. Science Clubs are open (free of charge) to 2nd to 8th
grade students and focus on the science of our climate and environment through
hands-on activities,” Ginger Kelly, CAN-DOO coordinator, said.

This project has been a
great example of a local non-profit organization utilizing federal funding to
benefit the entire Bethel community, Wendy Patoprsty, Watauga Cooperative
Extension science club partner, said. “The students have literally dug right in
to learning about climate and the environment and have had a blast doing so,”
she said.

CANN-DOO science club will
continue throughout the 2012 school year, and the Watauga River Partners will
continue working with interested landowners for the next 15 months. Watauga
River Partners is working with Watauga Cooperative Extension, and Watauga Soil
and Water Conservation to install projects in the Beaverdam community.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Celebrate
High Country Food Day

Community events
for all on Wednesday, October 24

In
spite of our mountainous terrain and short growing season, the High Country’s
local food movement continues to gain momentum. Community and home gardens are
on the rise, food entrepreneurs and growers are selling goods at more markets,
and the Seeds of Change Initiative, a campaign to grow jobs, improve health,
and end poverty through the extraordinary potential of locally grown food, is
based in Boone.

High Country Food Day is a celebration of the many
initiatives, organizations, and people that work hard to promote healthy,
affordable, and sustainable food in our community. Folks from the
community and university are planning events to educate and celebrate.

Here are a few community events. For an updated
schedule, check out:

http://highcountryfoodday.brwia.org/index.html

Free movie
viewing and hors d'oeuvres!

Did
you know that despite a surge in recent years, the sale of local fruits and
vegetables comprises only 2% of U.S. agricultural sales? That nearly 50% of
U.S. farmland is planted with corn and soybeans?

Make
plans to join NC Cooperative Extension and ASU Student Dietetics Association on
Wednesday, October 24th, 5:15
p.m. at the Agricultural Conference Center to view the movie, Weight of the Nation, Challenges.
This movie reviews the state of our food system, how the system affects health
of Americans, and what it will take to improve it.

We
will begin the evening with hors d’oeuvres created from locally grown food,
view the hour long movie, and then have a group discussion. Agricultural
Conference Center is located at 252 Poplar Grove Rd., Boone. For questions,
contact Margie Mansure at margie_mansure@ncsu.edu, 264-3061

Wednesday,
October 24th, 7:30 p.m. Greening the Revolution documentary showing
at Watauga public library, followed by discussion with director Katie Curran

A high-definition documentary explores the
far-reaching effects of international food injustice, from world hunger to the
consumption of industrial food. Using food as a symbol of inequality, we
explain and expose the corrupt cycle of globalization that perpetuates systems
of poverty and oppressive social control. We then present hope: successful,
sustainable communities achieving food justice and freedom through the power of
the people. Filmed in India, Kenya, Zambia, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba, Haiti and the
United States.

The Bread of
Life Community Kitchen of the Hospitality House will be
providing a free local meal along with tours of the facility and gardens. The
meal, which will be provided and prepared by representatives of F.A.R.M. Café
and High Country United Methodist Church, will be served from 5:30-7:30pm.

Tastes
of Autumn Vegetarian Feast, Wednesday, October 24th at 6 p.m.

This
meal will be a celebration of the tastes of autumn in the High Country planned
in conjunction with Food Day. We will feature many dishes to please both vegan
and vegetarian guests prepared by a team of talented and very creative chefs. Tickets
must be purchased in advance via www.highcountrylocalfirst.org, $40/person. If
you are a High Country Local First business member, or if you have a LOCAL
FIRST! REWARDS CARD, you can receive $5 off of the listed price.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Is your family looking forward to participating in a science fair this school
year?If you are not plugged in
with a science fair, there may be an alternative for you.Not all schools may offer a science
fair.The process of creating a
science experiment can be rewarding and educational in many ways.

A 4-H Science Fair will be held Saturday, January 12, 2013 at the Catawba
Science Center. This 4-H Science Fair has been successfully held for four
years and for the last two years has been a qualifying event allowing youth to
take their projects on to the regional and state science fairs (optional).

The fair is open to 5-18 year olds. It is designed to be a thorough,
educational experience. The
science fair is open to many counties in our region and youth from Watauga
County are eligible to participate. The organizers have some great
materials on putting together a science project and will be offering
information sessions to help navigate through the process. Contact the Watauga County 4-H office if you are
interested. More science fair
resources are posted on the 4-H Blog.

About Us

Watauga County Cooperative Extension provides residents easy access to resources and expertise of NC State University and NC A&T State University on a wide array of topics. Please browse our site or contact us by phone: 828.264.3061.

We are located at 971 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607.

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